Game apparatus



April@ 1941- J. F. LAZENBY 2.237,707

GAME APPARATUS Filed June 5, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l APY 8, `1941 J. F. LAZENBY y 2.237.707

GAME APPARATUS Filed June 3, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /Vfw YORK y illy: 4. MoN-neem. l ,Perl/mv Vm W'W'pm llave/ziel' fig .f

Patented Apr. 8, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GAME ArPARATUs John F. Lazenby, Pasadena, Calif. Application June a, 1940, serian No. 338,471

3 claims.

My invention relates to a game apparatus and has for its object the provision of a device of this character which is simple in construction and not only entertaining but highly educational.

Those and still further objects and attainments will become apparent from the following detailed description of one presently preferred embodi ment thereof, for the purposes of which description I shall refer to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan View with a portion of the top plate broken away for illustrative purposes;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the disc element of my apparatus;

Fig. 4 is an elevation showing two marker elements;

Fig. 5 is a front view of one of my trip cards;

Fig. 6 is an elevation showing the manual operating pin; and y Fig. '7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on line l--l of Fig. 1.

In general, my game apparatus is intended and designed as an apparatus for playing a travel game in which each player, at the beginning of the game, draws a trip card directing a speciiic trip to be carried out on the device. The playing field has map markings showing various travel points corresponding to cities and the like, those travel points being interconnected by markings indicative of transportation routes. At each of the travel points a perforation through the playing field is provided, which perforation extends through the top board, upon which the playing field is shown. A rotatable disc is mounted to rotate beneath and parallel to the top board, upon which disc I mark various distinctively colored areas, and movable markers which cooperate with the perforations are provided, each marker corresponding in color to one of the colored areas of the disc, those colored areas on thedisc being selectively registered with and exposed to view through the perforations upon rotation of the disc at each play to determine the movement of the markers. While a particular trip is directed by the indicia on each trip card, there are various elective routes forming a part of the playing eld from which the player may elect what he deems to be the most advantageous route to be pursued in carrying out a trip. Various other additive features of entertainment are possible and intended by my apparatus. For instance, I have found that it adds materially to thev game to 'designate certain travel points as ports of entry 'or the like,

requiring the player', upon reaching those points, to pay certain penalties which are placed in a pot .going to the winner of the game.

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral 5 denotes the base, 6 denotes the top board which carries the playing eld, 1 the spacer strip spacing the top board from the base, and 8 the rotatable disc, all of which elements are mounted in a frame 9, being confined therein by means of bottom plate I0 secured to the frame by screws Il. The numeral l5 designates one of a plurality of trip cards, the numerals I6 and ll designate two of a plurality of movable markers and I8 designates a pin for manually rotating the disc B.

The disc 8 is rotatably mounted between base 5 and top board 6 by means of a pin 2li journalled at its respective ends in holes 2| and 22 provided in the top board and the base, the pin 20 preferably being securely tted into a central opening 25 through the disc. Circumferentially spaced around the disc, adjacent the periphery thereof, I provide a number of equidistantly spaced socket members 3B for the purpose to be hereinafter described. As best shown in Fig. 3, the top face of disc 8 is so marked as to present a plurality of radial divisions 3l, each divided into a plurality of distinctively colored areas 32, said colored areas being preferably so arranged as to color that there will be no two adjacent spaces of the same color. For instance, reading clockwise in Fig, 3, the nrst radialdivision 3l has areas 32 arranged and colored as follows (reading from the center of the disc): red, blue, brown, red, blue, white, yellow. green, red', green, white, yellow, blue, violet, green, white, red, green, yellow, blue and brown. The areas 32 of the two adjacent radial divisions preferably are marked in the same colors but in different order so that there will be no two circumferentially adjacent spaces of the saine color,

The socket members 3i) are preferably of metal, and are embedded in the disc so that the top of the socket member is in a plane substantially flush with the top of the disc. This is to enable the disc to rotate with its top face snugly against the bottom of top board 6. Each of the socket members has a central opening 33, into which the pointed end 34 of operating pin I8 is adapted to be inserted for manually rotating the disc step by step during the course of play as will be hereinafter described.

The top board 6 is stationarily mounted in the frame 9, being confined against the flanged portion 9u of the frame by spacer strip l, base 5 and bottom plate IB, the spacer strip 'I being substantially of the same thickness as the disc 8 so as to permit rotation of the disc between the base and the top plate without permitting it to be sufficiently loose as to be accidently rotated. As best shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the top board 6 has delineated thereon, preferably by a circular line 48, any desired map indicia 4I. While the particular map indicia shown in Fig. 1 denotes North and Central America and adjacent islands and bodies of water, it will be understood of course that any desired map indicia may be used. The map indicia and other elements to be described, within the circle 40, constitute what I call the playing eld, and 1 circumferentially spaced around this field I provide a number of elongated slots 45, 45a, 45b, 45e, 45d, 45e, which extend through the top board B and each is shaped, in plan section, as a segment of a circle. Slot 45d is not shown in Fig. l inasmuch as it would occur in the brokenaway portion of top board 6. Those slots are so positioned that socket members 30 in the disc will register with them as the disc is rotated, the ends of the slots acting as stops-that is, as the pin I8 is inserted in the socket and the disc manually rotated, preferably clockwise, the rotation continues until the pin strikes the end of the slot. In practice, I preferably provide one slot for each player. The device illustrated in Fig. 1 is intended for six players, so that there are six slots, although a smaller or larger number of players may use the apparatus.

Throughout the map indicia 4I, I mark the playing field with the names of various cities or travel points, preferably placed about the map in the relative position which they occupy upon an actual map, and at each of the travel points I provide a perforation 55 extending through the top board and through which perforation is exposed a commensurate portion of the disc. And on the top board, I also mark the playing eld with lines 52, which interconnect the vvarious travel points.

describing the actual playing of a game thereon, I shall now describe such a game played by two players. First, each of the players draws from the deck of "trip cards I5 a trip card. In practice, the deck of trip cards contains a considerable number of cards, each containing indicia denoting a different trip. I have found in practice that a deck of fifty trip cards is desirable because it provides a conveniently useable deck as well as a wide variety of trips which may beVV drawn.

Let us assume that the first player draws a trip card I5 containing the following indicia: New York to Montreal and return via Winnipeg and assume that the second playerdraws a trip card bearing the following indicia: Seattle to Vancouver and return via San Diego. Next, each player draws, as from a hat or other chance means, `a marker I6. Each of the markers- I5 bears a color corresponding to one of the colored areas 32 on the disc but no two of the markers is of the same color. Let us assume, for instance, that the first player draws a red marker and that the second player draws a green marker. After drawing the markers, the first player places his red marker IG in the perforation 50a, which perforation is provided through the top board at the travel point denoted New York, which is the starting point for the first player, and-the l second player places his greenmarker in the perpoint.

foration 50h, which bears the marking Seattle and is his starting point.

Referring now to the first players first play, it will be observed from the interconnecting lines 52 that he can reach Montreal by travelling first to either of the travel points Boston or Troy and he must elect as to which route he will take for his first play. Assuming that he elects to proceed via Boston, he must wait until the color red registers with perforation 50c, which is the perforation corresponding to the Boston travel As the first step of his play, the first player takes the pin I8 and inserts the pointed end in a socketed member 30 at the right hand end of one of the slots 45, etc., and manually rotates the disc 8 until the pin contacts the opposite end of the slot, at which point he withdraws the pin. The radial divisions 3I are of such width that each of said rotations of the disc changes the color registering with a given perforation. Assuming that by thus rotating the disc the first player has moved the color red on the disc into register with perforation 50c, he manually moves his marker to that point. If he is unable to move his color into the desired perforation by his first play due to the fact that his color does not register with that perforation on that play, his marker merely remains in its present position until his color does register with the desired perforation in the course of his subsequent plays. Having thus completed his first play, the second player likewise rotates the disc in an effort `to move the color green appearing on the disc into register with perforation 50d, which corresponds to his first travel point, Vancouver. The play then continues in a like manner with each player alternately rotating the disc a distance commensurate with the length of the slots 30 until one of the players has completed the trip denoted by his trip card. For instance, assuming that the first player completes his trip he will visit the following travel points in order: Boston, Montreal, Ottawa, Hearst, Winnipeg, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Philadelphia and New York, or if the second player completes his trip he will visit in order the travel points of Vancouver, Midway, Helena, Salt Lake City, Needles, San Diego, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. This is of course assuming that the player does not take some other elective route denoted by the lines 52.

As hereinbefore noted, it is preferable to exact some penalities from the players upon passing through selected travel points. For instance, in each of the examples hereinabove set forth, each player would have to pay an entry or customs fee upon reaching the first Canadian port of entry and upon reaching the first United States port of entry on his return trip, which fees or penalities are placed in a space 55 denoted on the top board as collectonn Another expedient is to permit one player to move his marker upon the play of another player by paying to such player a price therefor.

Of course in the accompanying drawings I have shown only a relatively few travel points 50 and travel lines 52, those few being suflicient to illustrate my invention. I Wish it understood, however, that in practice, the apparatus has a playing field on which practically all the principal cities on a given map are designated by name and by a corresponding perforation through the vtop board to expose therethrough the colored spaces 32 on the disc, and the travel points will be interconnected by travel lines 52 which, as

far as practicable, correspond to known transportation lines.

From the foregoing, it will be obvious that my game device enables the players to become intimately familiar with geography and routes of travel, and in addition it alords considerable entertainment. I nd that in using my game apparatus, people who have travelled considerably obtain added enjoyment from it because, as their markers reach various travel points in the course of a game, they are reminded of previous visits to the designated points.

While I have resorted to considerable detail for the purpose of making my invention under stood, I wish it understood that Within the broader scope of my invention, as defined by the appended claims, various modifications and adaptations may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A game device comprised of a stationary play board, spaced perforations through the play board, indicia means on said board denoting travel routes between periorations, comprised of line markings extending between perforations, indicia means denoting elective routes between certain of said perforations comprised of a plurality of line markings on the board extending between said last-named perforations but intersecting one or more intermediate perforations,

and means for determining successive plays, comprised of a play indicator having irregularly spaced colored areas thereon, said play indicator being rotatably mounted under the play board in such position that upon rotation of the play indicator certain of said marked areas will register with certain of said perforations.

2. A game device comprised of a stationary play board having a circular play eld, perforations through the board within the play field,

said perforations being irregularly spaced apart radially and circumferentially of the play eld, route indicia means on the play eld comprised of a single line marking leading from one to another of certain of said perforations and a plurality of line markings leading between others of said perforations by intersecting one or more perforations therebetween, and means for determining successive plays, comprised of a circular disc having colored areas thereon, said colored areas being irregularly spaced apart radially and circumferentially of the disc and said disc being rotatably mounted under the play field in such position that rotation of the disc will successively and intermittently move certain of the marked areas into register with certain of the perforations.

3. A game device comprised of a stationary play board having a circular play eld, perforations through the board within the play field, said perforations being irregularly spaced apart radially and circumferentially of the play eld, route indicia means on the play field comprised of a single line marking leading from one to another of certain of said perforations and a plurality of line markings leading between others of said perforations by intersecting one or more perforations therebetween, means for determining successive plays, comprised of a circular disc having colored areas thereon, said colored areas being irregularly spaced apart radially and circumferentially of the disc and said disc being rotatably mounted under the play field in such position that rotation of the disc will successively and intermittently move certain of the marked areas into register with certain of the perforations, and means for limiting successive rotations of the disc to uniform, predetermined distances.

gom: n. LAzENnr, 

